Describe an Exciting Book that You Enjoy Reading: IELTS Speaking Cue Cards

(Describe an exciting book you read.)

I’m going to talk about an exciting book that I read. The book’s name is "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd." It’s a crime novel written by Agatha Christie, who, according to me, is one of the best mystery and thriller writers.

(When you read it)

I read it in 2018, in the winter. The reason I remember the time so accurately is because I was reading it bundled up inside my blanket at Christmas.

(What was it about)

As the name suggests, a man, Roger Ackroyd, was killed, and a detective has been hired to find the culprit. Throughout the novel, multiple clues are presented along with a lot of suspects. I was so on edge as I read it, trying to find the culprit, taking in all the clues. But I only got to find the murderer at the very end and was myself very shocked about the reveal.

(Why you liked it)

This is also a reason why I like this novel so much; it has a not-so-predictable plot and is very engaging. And since it was a part of my syllabus at the time, I was able to understand it in depth. It is set in the 1920s and is full of wonderful dialogues. There were a lot of lines in it that I remember, like, “always bear in mind the person who speaks may be lying.” Well, it turns out the author was lying in the novel as well.

(How it impacted you)

You can say it gave me trust issues, and it stayed this way for a long time until I convinced myself that I’m not living in a mystery novel. But whenever I read any other mystery novel, I always have this in the back of my head, “Don’t trust the author.” Nonetheless, it raised my interest in mystery novels, and I still read mystery novels sometimes.

This is an answer spoken by a candidate who achieved a Band
7.5  score, here is the expert’s comment.

The candidate speaks at length without noticeable effort or loss of coherence, may demonstrate language-related hesitation at times, but uses a range of connectives and discourse markers with some flexibility. The candidate  uses vocabulary resources flexibly to discuss the topic and  uses some less common vocabulary and shows some awareness of paraphrase effectively and uses a range of complex structures with some flexibility. There are frequently produced error-free sentences with only very occasional grammatical errors (use of 2nd person), thus the response shows all the positive features of Band 7 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 8.

(Describe an exciting book you read.)

I’d like to talk about a very famous crime thriller book "Sacred Games." It’s by the author Vikram Chandra. 

(When you read it)

I read it a couple of months ago, when I was traveling to Amritsar on a train. I had purchased the book at the station itself since the train was late.

(What was it about)

Moving on to the story of the novel, It starts when an exhausted police officer stumbles upon a gangster committing suicide, and just like opening Pandora’s box, he is caught in a tangled web of conspiracies in Mumbai. The narrative is by these two very contrasting characters, the weary police officer who finds himself in hot water while trying to diffuse a dangerous situation, and the notorious gangster whose past is shown simultaneously. The two narratives are richly descriptive and interwoven, which further adds to the excitement. It entails politics, violence, betrayal, and a constant struggle for power. 

(Why you liked it)

I liked it a lot because it’s closer to me, since the setting is in my country, plus there’s character development of the gangster from a small-time crook to one of Mumbai’s most feared gangsters. My favorite part about it is the ending in moral ambiguity, as the police officer has averted the immediate danger but the corruption still exists.

(How it impacted you)

This novel made me realize the complexities of good and evil and how they coexist. I pondered about the ongoing struggle and chaos in India.

These are just examples of how you can answer the cue card, but do not attempt to memorize the model answers. It is very easy to detect pre-learnt answers, and it will affect your score negatively.


This is an answer spoken by a candidate who achieved a Band
8  score, here is the expert’s comment.

The candidate speaks fluently with only occasional repetition; hesitation is usually content-related and only rarely to search for language. The response develops topics coherently and appropriately, a wide vocabulary resource is readily used and has flexibly conveyed the precise meaning. The candidate uses less common and idiomatic vocabulary skillfully and produces a majority of error-free sentences.

The cue card can never be changed, so you’ll have to speak on it. Try to go back to your school days and remember any short stories that you read. If not, then think about any fairy tale like Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Three Little Pigs, etc. You can also talk about Akbar Birbal, or religious books like Ramayan and Mahabharat. The last option is to just make up a name of a book and talk about it. The examiner wants to test your English, not the truth. So just name any book, and you can take a plot from any movie.

It does not matter, it’s a professional setting, the examiner will only check your English not your views. 

It’s okay if you don’t remember. The examiner will not check the facts. Also instead of giving incorrect details, you can simply say, “The author’s name has slipped off my mind”. 

No, stick to the cue card, it’s ‘describe an exciting book you read’ so it has to be singular. You need to think more about the book you mentioned, and if you cannot then focus on why you liked it and what impact it had on you. Here you can try to expand on the genre itself. For Eg. “The suspense kept me awake all night, even after I was done with the book, I felt wary of my surroundings.”